^ What do you think of Patrick Chan, from the point of view of posture, carriage, and fluidity of movement?

I actually got to see his SP Take Five last year in person, I think he's one of the most fluid men's skaters I've seen. Very natural upper and lower body coordination, this is especially apparent during his footwork sequences, as his upper body is relaxed and isn't stiff like for example, Plushenko (from what I've seen on videos) when he does his footwork sequences. From a dancer's perspective, I can tell that Patrick has a strong yet flexible middle body (lower back, hips), which also allows for his flow and straight lower back position after jump landings. There are similarities between skating and ballet when it comes to male jumps positions in the air and landing postures. Because Patrick has a loose middle body, I feel like he can be pushed to do more choreographically like using more sweeping and expressive movements, as he already skates very naturally in multiple directions.

I think Patrick has wonderful upper body carriage, the only thing I've noticed is that he can still improve on arm movements and loosening up his neck/ shoulders more in order to appear less robotic or strained and more flowing and expressive. Perfect example is Lambiel in this area, Takahashi is good too.

This season in ladies field there was no one in their top form, sadly. The earthquake in Japan and an additional month of the season didn't help to anyone, I believe.
Mao Asada was one who was affected the most, she even raised the question if it is correct at all to have World Championship this year, and I must say, I believe she had a point.

Obviously, what I wanted to see the most were Yuna's new programs. I'm not disappointed at all by them, but they could be performed much better. I hope we'll see them again eventually, because they really deserve to be captured in better performance.
I think, they were definitely the most interesting ones, especially "Homage to Korea"... Very unusual music cut and choreography with elements from traditional Korean dances.

As about the result of competition, I have no objections. Miki performed cleaner, so she deserved gold medal. When she talked to the public on the arena, she expressed the hope that her performance will help, if a tiny little bit, to those who suffer in Japan. I hope this victory can inspire Japanese people...

I actually got to see his SP Take Five last year in person, I think he's one of the most fluid men's skaters I've seen. Very natural upper and lower body coordination, this is especially apparent during his footwork sequences, as his upper body is relaxed and isn't stiff like for example, Plushenko (from what I've seen on videos) when he does his footwork sequences. From a dancer's perspective, I can tell that Patrick has a strong yet flexible middle body (lower back, hips), which also allows for his flow and straight lower back position after jump landings. There are similarities between skating and ballet when it comes to male jumps positions in the air and landing postures. Because Patrick has a loose middle body, I feel like he can be pushed to do more choreographically like using more sweeping and expressive movements, as he already skates very naturally in multiple directions.

I think Patrick has wonderful upper body carriage, the only thing I've noticed is that he can still improve on arm movements and loosening up his neck/ shoulders more in order to appear less robotic or strained and more flowing and expressive. Perfect example is Lambiel in this area, Takahashi is good too.

Lovely and detailed take, thanks for that. At the beginning of the season, I thought Patrick's slight robotic-ness took away a little away from his Take Five. It makes it hard for him to look natural moving to jazz. But he can't complain - nature certainly gifted him in other departments, as you pointed out with his strong/flexible torso.

While watching Kanako Murakami, whom I like - her freshness and speed is good, I noticed she does a lot of pumping - or better said, a lot of up and down movement with her body when skating. I found it distracting. If she could smooth it out, she could be a real contender!

Patrick when he's on was an unbeatable competitor in 2011. His style can make me nervous because it is not a defined style and can change even in the same program. Lambiel had the great musical style and Jason Brown is the one who will be his successor.

I actually got to see his SP Take Five last year in person, I think he's one of the most fluid men's skaters I've seen. Very natural upper and lower body coordination, this is especially apparent during his footwork sequences, as his upper body is relaxed and isn't stiff like for example, Plushenko (from what I've seen on videos) when he does his footwork sequences. From a dancer's perspective, I can tell that Patrick has a strong yet flexible middle body (lower back, hips), which also allows for his flow and straight lower back position after jump landings. There are similarities between skating and ballet when it comes to male jumps positions in the air and landing postures. Because Patrick has a loose middle body, I feel like he can be pushed to do more choreographically like using more sweeping and expressive movements, as he already skates very naturally in multiple directions.

I think Patrick has wonderful upper body carriage, the only thing I've noticed is that he can still improve on arm movements and loosening up his neck/ shoulders more in order to appear less robotic or strained and more flowing and expressive. Perfect example is Lambiel in this area, Takahashi is good too.

It´s strange, some friends of mine who are dancers, ballet dancers and choreographers have exactly the opposite opinion. They all said Patrick was stiff, had awkward arm movement, bad posture and coordination and his interpretation is very robotic and inexpressive. They laughed most of the time while watching Phantom of the Opera and I felt very embarrassed.

I have always thought that when it comes to balletic skaters Mao (at the moment) is the best example.

As a dancer as well I'd say that Carolina to me is like a contemporary dancer with skates. I mean, there is a lot of ballet there but with more flow and freedom and even sometimes compromising some extentions for the flow. The way she used her hips when it comes to the step sequences allows her to create a lot of very difficult positions and maked her balance work where it would be impossible for most. The key (as I see it) is that her hips are very relaxed but still there is enough muscle tension to portray the middle body movements all the way from her fingers to toes. That is a very important element in contemporary dancing where the movents can be pretty strange but beautiful in a less obvious way.